New Dh100 note with extra security features to be rolled out in the UAE

A new Dh100 note with improved security features is to be introduced this week, the Central Bank of the UAE has announced.

The note will include enhanced security elements designed to protect against counterfeiting and fraud.

Among the new features is a colour-changing hologram which will transform from green to blue when tilted and display the note's value in the bottom left corner.

An existing security thread, which reflects light and runs vertically down the currency, has also been replaced with a more sophisticated strip. It too will see its colour change from green to blue when tilted.

Other changes include the removal of the denomination value from the bottom right hand corner. A silver foil design in the top right corner will no longer feature.

The old Dh100 note. Andrew Henderson / The National

The overall design of the note is largely unchanged, with one side continuing to show a picture of Dubai’s oldest building, Al Fahidi Fort. The other shows an image of the city’s first tower, the World Trade Centre. The note has featured the same images since it was first introduced in 1973.

"The overall design and other specifications of the currency note remain the same as the current currency notes in circulation," a statement from the Central Bank of the UAE said.

"This currency note will be put in circulation as legal tender, along with the Dh100 denomination currency notes currently in circulation."

The new notes will begin appearing on Tuesday.

The move follows a similar overhaul in 2013, when some of the security features now being replaced were first introduced. Then, new Dh1,000 and Dh100 notes were rolled out.

Previously the UAE's currency had to be printed overseas, with notes made in the UK or France and coins minted in Canada. However, last year, the UAE’s first banknote printing plant was opened at the Khalifa Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi.